Broadcasting voicemail replies

ABSTRACT

A messaging device may include a memory configured to store a first message from a first caller and intended for a called party and to store information identifying a group that includes a number of broadcast parties that include the first caller. The messaging device may include a processor configured to receive a reply message from the called party and to broadcast the reply message to at least a subset of the group.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Implementations consistent with the principles of the invention relategenerally to communication services and, more particularly, to voicemessaging services and the translating of replies to voicemail messages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Voicemail systems may receive, store and provide voicemail messages forsubscribers of a voicemail service. A “subscriber” is typically a personthat has a relationship with the provider of the voicemail service. Forexample, the voicemail service may be provided by a local telephonecompany through which a subscriber receives telephone service.

Voicemail services may have certain shortcomings. One such shortcoming,may occur when a subscriber wishes to retrieve his/her messages. Forexample, when a subscriber wishes to retrieve his/her messages, thesubscriber typically calls a telephone number associated with thevoicemail service and retrieves each message in the order in which themessages were stored. Therefore, the subscriber must listen to at leasta portion of each message to determine who has left the message. Thistype of message retrieval system may be time consuming to use when thesubscriber needs to access a large number of stored messages.

Another shortcoming associated with voicemail systems may occur when thesubscriber responds to voicemail messages by, for example, sending areply to a calling party. The subscriber may have to respond to eachmessage individually even when callers are associated with each other,such as members of a sports team, employees of a department within acorporation, classmates, etc., and/or where the subject matter of thestored messages is very similar, such as when multiple messages pertainto the same topic.

Voicemail users may benefit from devices and/or techniques that letusers interact with voicemail systems more efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect consistent with the principles of the invention,a method is provided. The method may include storing a messageassociated with a subscriber of a voicemail system. The method mayinclude providing information about the stored message to thesubscriber. The method may include receiving a message from thesubscriber in response to the stored message. The method may includereceiving an input from the subscriber, where the input represents agroup of parties. The method may include sending the message to thegroup of parties as a broadcast message.

According to another aspect consistent with the principles of theinvention, a messaging device is provided. The messaging device mayinclude a memory configured to store a first message from a first callerand intended for a called party and to store information identifying agroup that includes a group of broadcast parties that include the firstcaller. The messaging device may include a processor configured toreceive a reply message from the called party and to broadcast the replymessage to at least a subset of the group.

According to a further aspect consistent with the principles of theinvention, a method is provided. The method may include notifying acalled party about a group of stored messages received from a group ofcalling parties. The method may include making information about atleast one of the group of messages available to the called party inresponse to a first input. The method may include recording a newbroadcast message or retrieving a stored broadcast message on behalf ofthe called party in response to a second input. The method may includesending the new broadcast message or the retrieved broadcast message toat least a subset of the group of calling parties on behalf of thecalled party based on a third input.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the inventionand, together with the description, explain the invention. In thedrawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which methods and systemsconsistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the voicemail system ofFIG. 1 in an implementation consistent with the principles of theinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary database that may be associated with thedirectory server of FIG. 1 in an implementation consistent with theprinciples of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for receiving and storingvoicemail messages and caller information in an implementationconsistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary process associated with retrievinginformation associated with stored voicemail messages and for retrievingthe stored voicemail messages in an implementation consistent with theprinciples of the invention; and

FIGS. 6A-L illustrate exemplary aspects of a user's interaction with VMsystem 140 consistent with the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of implementations consistent withthe principles of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Thesame reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same orsimilar elements. Also, the following detailed description does notlimit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined bythe appended claims and their equivalents.

Exemplary System

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which methods and systemsconsistent with the invention may be implemented. Referring to FIG. 1,system 100 may include calling device 110, called device 120, firstnetwork 130, second network 150, voicemail (VM) system 140 and directoryserver 160. The number of elements and networks illustrated in FIG. 1 isprovided for simplicity. In practice, a typical system could includemore or fewer elements and networks than illustrated in FIG. 1.

Calling device 110 and called device 120 may each include any device orcombination of devices capable of transmitting voice signals to anetwork, such as first network 130. In one implementation, callingdevice 110 and called device 120 may each include any type of telephonesystem/device, such as a plain old telephone system (POTS) telephone, asession initiation protocol (SIP) telephone, and/or a wireless telephonedevice. In another implementation, calling device 110 and called device120 may each include a type of computer system, such as a mainframe,minicomputer, personal computer, a laptop, personal digital assistant(PDA), or the like. Calling device 110 and called device 120 may connectto first network 130 via any type of connection, such as wired,wireless, or optical connections.

In implementations described herein, calling device 110 may leave avoicemail message for a user, or subscriber, that is associated withcalled device 120. “Voicemail message”, as used herein, may refer tosubstantially any type of message that may be associated with callingdevice 110 and/or called device 120. For example, a voicemail messagemay include a conventional voicemail message such as those associatedwith Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) phones. In addition, avoicemail message may include messages that contain digitized audio,digital images, digital video and/or text.

First network 130 and second network 150 may each include a local areanetwork (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network(WAN), a telephone network, such as the PSTN, an intranet, the Internetand/or a combination of networks. In one implementation consistent withthe invention, first network 130 may be implemented as a combinednetwork that includes a PSTN, the Internet and/or a long distancetelephone network. In this implementation, first network 130 may includeone or more end offices, central offices (COs) and/or associatedswitches. First network 130 may also include one or more tandemswitches, such as a Class 4 switch that may act as a point of presencefor interfacing to a long distance network, etc.

In an exemplary implementation consistent with the principles of theinvention, second network 150 may include a LAN and/or a WAN thatconnects VM system 140 to directory server 160. In alternativeimplementations, VM system 140 may connect directly to directory server160.

VM system 140 may include one or more network devices (e.g., voicemailservers/platforms) that perform voicemail services, such as receiving,storing, and providing voicemail messages to subscribers. For example,VM system 140 may include an automated response unit (ARU) and automaticcall distributor (ACD) that provide a greeting to a caller and promptthe caller to leave a message. VM system 140 may be configured to storesubstantially any number of messages for a subscriber, and the storedmessages may be associated with substantially any number of callingparties.

Implementations consistent with the principles of the invention use VMsystem 140 that may be configured to provide a broadcast messagecapability to subscribers of VM system 140. For example, a subscribermay interact with VM system 140 to send a broadcast message tosubstantially any number of calling parties or non-calling parties.

As used herein, “broadcast message” or “broadcast reply” refers to anymessage that can be distributed to multiple destinations at the sametime or substantially the same time via a single act, or series of acts.Broadcast messages may include voice, video, images and/or text.

As used herein, “calling party” refers to any party associated with avoicemail message that is stored in VM system 140. For example, acalling party may have left a stored voicemail message that is intendedfor a called party. A calling party may be a subscriber of VM system 140and/or a calling party may not be a subscriber of VM system 140.

As used herein, “non-calling party” refers to any party that has notleft a stored voicemail message in VM system 140. A non-calling partymay have information identifying the non-calling party stored in adatabase associated with VM system 140, even though no stored voicemailmessages may be associated with the non-calling party. Non-callingparties may be subscribers of VM system and/or non-calling parties maynot be subscribers of VM system 140.

As used herein, “subscriber” refers to any party that is associated withVM system 140. For example, a called party may be a subscriber of VMsystem 140 by way of a voicemail account on VM system 140. Callingparties and/or non-calling parties may also be subscribers of VM system140 if the calling parties have, for example, accounts on VM system 140.

Assume that a first caller leaves a first message and a second callerleaves a second message. The subscriber may play the first and/or secondmessage via called device 120. The subscriber may send a broadcastmessage to the first caller and the second caller using a single seriesof actions to generate and send the broadcast message, as described inmore detail below. The broadcast message may operate as a reply to thefirst message and/or the second message.

Broadcast messages may be sent in one or more formats, such as bysending a first format to a first calling party and a second format to asecond calling party. Assume that a PSTN caller leaves a message for asubscriber. The subscriber may send a broadcast reply to the caller in aPSTN compatible format while sending an IP compatible broadcast reply toanother party that may, or may not, be associated with the caller.Broadcast messages let a subscriber efficiently respond to substantiallyany number of messages associated with his/her voicemail account.

Directory server 160 may include any device capable of storinginformation about an identity of calling device 110 and/or a party. Forexample, directory server 160 may include one or more servers that storeinformation regarding various calling party identifiers, such astelephone numbers, fax numbers, IP addresses, SIP addresses, instantmessaging (IM) addresses and/or email addresses. For example, directoryserver 160 may include a database that lists telephone numbers acrossthe United States and, optionally, outside the United States, and usernames associated with the respective telephone numbers. Directory server160 may also include other databases that store telephone numbers,names, and/or other identifying information associated with telephonenumbers, names, and/or other identifying information associated withcalling parties and/or non-calling parties, as described in more detailbelow.

Exemplary Configuration for Voicemail System

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary configuration of VM system 140 in animplementation consistent with the invention. Directory server 160 maybe similarly configured. Referring to FIG. 2, VM system 140 may includea bus 210, processing logic 220, a memory 230, a read only memory (ROM)240, a storage device 250, an input device 260, an output device 270,and a communication interface 280. It will be appreciated that VM system140 may include other components (not shown) that aid in receiving,transmitting, and/or processing voicemail messages.

Bus 210 may permit communication among the components of VM system 140.Processing logic 220 may include any type of processor, ormicroprocessor, that interprets and executes instructions. In otherimplementations, processing logic 220 may be implemented as or mayinclude an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), or the like. Memory 230 may include arandom access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage devicethat stores information and instructions for execution by processinglogic 220. ROM 240 may include a ROM device and/or another type ofstatic storage device that stores static information and instructionsfor processing logic 220. Storage device 250 may include a magnetic oroptical recording medium and its corresponding drive for storinginformation and/or instructions.

Input device 260 may include a device that permits an operator to inputinformation to VM system 140, such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, apen, a microphone, one or more biometric mechanisms, and the like.Output device 270 may include a device that outputs information to theoperator, including a display, a printer, a speaker, etc.

Communication interface 280 may include any transceiver-like mechanismthat enables VM system 140 to communicate with other devices and/orsystems. For example, communication interface 280 may include mechanismsfor communicating with another device or system via a network, such asfirst network 130 or second network 150.

VM system 140, consistent with the invention, may perform voicemailservices, as described in detail below. VM system 140 may perform theseand other services in response to processing logic 220 executingsoftware instructions contained in a computer-readable medium, such asmemory 230. A computer-readable medium may be defined as one or morememory devices and/or carrier waves. The software instructions may beread into memory 230 from another computer-readable medium, such as datastorage device 250, or from another device via communication interface280. The software instructions contained in memory 230 may causeprocessing logic 220 to perform processes that will be described later.Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement processes consistentwith the principles of the invention. Thus, systems and methodsconsistent with the invention are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software.

Exemplary Database

VM system 140 may interact with directory server 160 to receivevoicemail messages associated with a broadcast party. “Broadcast party,”as used herein, refers to any party that can receive a broadcastmessage. Broadcast parties may be calling parties, non-calling parties,subscribers, and/or non-subscribers. Broadcast parties may be associatedwith a database that stores information on behalf of a subscriber, suchas a called party. The database may access broadcast party informationwhen a called party is accessing a stored voicemail message and/orcomposing/sending broadcast messages to recipients.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary database 300 that may be associated withdirectory server 160 in an implementation consistent with the principlesof the invention. Directory server 160 may operate with one or moredatabases 300 to process inbound calls when interacting with VM system140. Database 300 may be stored in, for example, a storage device withindirectory server 160 or may be located externally from directory server160. In alternative implementations, database 300 and/or directoryserver 160 may be stored in VM system 140.

Referring to FIG. 3, database 300 may include an identification field310, a name field 320, an association field 330, a location field 340and a format field 350. It should be understood that database 300 mayinclude additional and/or different fields (not shown) that provideinformation associated with a telephone number and/or another identifierassociated with a broadcast party.

In one implementation, a broadcast party may be associated with morethan one called party in database 300. Entries within database 300 maybe arranged or grouped according to one or more criteria. For example,entries may be organized in rows and/or columns to facilitateinterpretation of information stored in database 300 by an operator.Entries may be denoted as first entry 302, second entry 304 and thirdentry 306.

Identification field 310 may store an identifier associated with a userdevice, such as calling device 110. The identifier may include, forexample, any information that can be used to identify a device and/or auser of a device on a network. Implementations consistent with theprinciples of the invention may use IP addresses, email addresses,telephone numbers, SIP user names, etc., as entries in identificationfield 310. For example, an identifier may include a unique group ofcharacters, such as a 10 digit telephone number that is associated witha user device (e.g., calling device 110).

Name field 320 may store information associated with the identifier usedin identification field 310, such as the name of the party to whom thecorresponding identifier in identification field 310 has beenregistered, or assigned to, by a service provider, such as a telephonecompany, Internet service provider (ISP), etc. For example, referring toFIG. 3, the telephone number 555-123-4567 in first entry 302 correspondsto the name Robert Jones. In contrast, second entry 304 in database 300corresponds to an Internet address associated with Jane Smith, and thirdentry 306 in database 300 corresponds to an email address associatedwith Bill Lee.

Association field 330 may include any information for identifyingentries in database 300 and/or for associating a number of database 300entries together. For example, first entry 302 and second entry 304 maybe associated with a book club of which a subscriber, e.g., recipient ofa voicemail message, may be a member. Association field 330 may let thesubscriber send a broadcast message, such as a reply to a voicemailmessage, to a subset of entries associated with the book club or to allentries associated with the book club. Assume that Robert Jones leaves avoicemail message for the subscriber regarding a book that will be readat an upcoming club meeting. The subscriber may notify other members ofthe book club about the book by sending a broadcast message to everyentry that includes “book club” in association field 330.

Location field 340 may store geographic information associated with aname in name field 320 and/or an identifier in identification field 310.Geographic information may be associated with a local region, such as aneighborhood or city, or a non local region, such as a neighboring stateand/or country. Geographic information may provide a subscriber with anadditional way to identify calling parties. For example, if Jane Smithleaves a message for a subscriber about a city council meeting for thecity of Fairfax, the subscriber may send a broadcast message to anyentry 302, 304, 306 that includes “Fairfax” in location field 340.Location field 340 may facilitate composing and sending broadcastmessages to a number of recipients based on common criteria, such as acity of residence.

Format field 350 may include information that identifies a communicationformat, such as a communication and/or networking protocol, that can beused to send a broadcast message from VM system 140 and/or directoryserver 160 to a caller. For example, format field 350 may include “PSTN”to indicate that Robert Jones should be contacted via a messagecompatible with a PSTN. In contrast, “IP” may indicate that Jane Smithshould be contacted via a message compatible with an IP network. Formatfield 350 may include multiple entries for a single caller. Multipleentries may cause multiple broadcast messages, in a number of formats,to be sent to the caller. Implementations consistent with the principlesof the invention may let a subscriber send a broadcast message tomultiple recipients using multiple formats. For example, a broadcastmessage may be sent to Robert Jones in a PSTN format and to Jane Smithin an IP network format, such as by way of an instant message (IM). Inaddition, in some implementations, multiple messages may be sent to one(or more) of the recipients in multiple different formats.

Implementations of database 300 may include other fields (not shown),such as a preference field that may include information for identifyingone or more communication preferences associated with a caller. Forexample, a preference field may include entries listed in a hierarchy,where the hierarchy determines an order for contacting the caller.Assume that a preference field includes “PSTN”, “pager” and “email” forRobert Jones. When a subscriber sends a broadcast message to RobertJones, the message may be sent in a PSTN format since PSTN is the firstentry. If no acknowledgement is received, such as a receiptconfirmation, within a determined time span, a pager compatible messagemay be sent and then an email message may be sent.

A preference field may also include additional information such as atime-of-day entry. The time-of-day entry may be associated with abroadcast party, such as Robert Jones. The time-of-day entry may be usedto specify a time window when a recipient, such as Robert Jones, can bereached via a broadcast message. For example, if Robert Jones is onlyavailable to receive broadcast messages from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, atime-of-day entry for Robert Jones may be “3-4 PM.” Time-of-day entriesmay also be used to set a lifetime value for a broadcast message. Alifetime value may determine how long a broadcast message may remainundelivered and/or unread before being deleted. For example, asubscriber may assign a lifetime value of one hour to a broadcastmessage. If the broadcast message is not read by a recipient within onehour of being sent, the message may be deleted from the recipient'sinbox.

Database 300 may be populated using information obtained from abroadcast party and/or a called party. For example, a portion ofdatabase 300 may be associated with a called party. The called party mayenter information into database 300 on his/her own behalf. For example,the called party may enter information into database 300 about callersthat are known to the called party. Information about known callers canbe arranged in a format that allows callers to be identified and/orgrouped according to criteria provided by the called party. In analternative implementation, consistent with the principles of theinvention, callers may provide information to directory server 160and/or an operator associated with directory server 160 along with arequest that the information be placed in a portion of database 300 thatis associated with a called party.

While only one database 300 is described above, it will be appreciatedthat database 300 may include multiple databases stored locally atdirectory server 160 and/or stored at different locations accessible bydirectory server 160 via first network 130 and/or second network 150.Moreover, if a number of directory servers 160 are present, eachdirectory server 160 may be associated with a separate database 300 or acommon database 300 may be shared by multiple directory servers 160.

In other implementations, consistent with the principles of theinvention, database 300 may be associated with one or more other devicesin system 100. For example, database 300 may be associated with VMsystem 140 and may be directly accessible by VM system 140. For example,database 300 may be operated and/or maintained by the same entity thatoperates VM system 140.

Exemplary Processing

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for receiving and storingvoicemail messages and caller information in an implementationconsistent with the principles of the invention. FIG. 4 is discussed inconnection with a PSTN; however, other implementations may employ otherprotocols and/or network architectures in conjunction with acts similarto those illustrated in FIG. 4. For example, processes similar to thosedescribed with respect to FIG. 4 may be implemented in SIP networks, IPnetworks, etc.

A called party may subscribe to voicemail services provided by VM system140. A central office (CO) in first network 130 may receive an inboundcall from a calling party (act 410). Assume that the called party doesnot answer the inbound call from the calling party. After apredetermined number of rings without an answer, a CO may forward theinbound call to a messaging system, such as VM system 140 (act 420).

The CO in first network 130 may be provided with a telephone number towhich the inbound call is to be forwarded after the predetermined numberof rings. For example, an entity associated with VM system 140 mayprovide a local exchange carrier (LEC) operating the CO in first network130, to which called device 120 is coupled, with a telephone numberassociated with VM system 140. In an exemplary implementation, the LECthat forwards the call to VM system 140 may be unaffiliated with theentity that operates VM system 140. That is, VM system 140 may beoperated by an entity that provides voicemail services to the subscriberat called device 120, but does not provide local phone service to thatsubscriber. For example, in some implementations, VM system 140 may beoperated by an inter-exchange carrier (IEC) that provides long distanceservices via first network 130.

Alternatively, VM system 140 may be affiliated with the LEC providinglocal telephone service to called device 120. In this case, the LEC mayforward the call to a switch in its own network that is associated withVM system 140. In each case, the LEC (or other service provider) mayconfigure the appropriate CO in first network 130 to forward calls tothe appropriate telephone number after a predetermined number of ringswithout an answer at called device 120.

VM system 140 may receive the forwarded call. VM system 140 maydetermine if identifying information is available for the calling partyassociated with the forwarded call (act 430). For example, a telephonenumber associated with a calling party may serve as identifyinginformation for the calling party.

If identification information is available for the calling party, VMsystem 140 may obtain the identification information (act 440). Forexample, VM system 140 may perform an automatic number identification(ANI) process to identify an originating telephone number associatedwith the calling party at calling device 110. Alternatively, anotherdevice in system 100, such as a local switch in first network 130, mayperform an ANI to identify the originating telephone number and may passthe ANI information to VM system 140 via first network 130. In a datanetwork implementation, such as an IP network, a packet sent fromcalling device 110 may include identifying information.

After the telephone number associated with the calling party isidentified, VM system 140 may perform a lookup using the calling party'stelephone number. For example, VM system 140 may forward the callingparty's telephone number to directory server 160 and may use thistelephone number to identify a name associated with the calling party.As an example, suppose that the identified telephone number is555-123-4567. In this case, directory server 160 may access database 300(FIG. 3) and may identify the calling party (or the person to whom theoriginating telephone number has been assigned) as Robert Jones.

Directory server 160 may maintain a number of databases that can beassociated with called parties. For example, directory server 160 mayassociate a first database with a first called party and a seconddatabase with a second called party. Directory server 160 may use atelephone number associated with the called party to identify a databasefor use with that called party. Assume that a caller places a call tocalled device 120 and the called party does not answer, VM system 140and/or directory server 160 may process the called number to determinewhich database should be accessed. After the proper database is accessed(e.g., database 300), information, such as telephone numbers and/ornames, associated with calling parties known to the called party may beused to identify the calling party. The identified calling partyinformation may be used to record an audible prompt that identifies thecalling party. The audible prompt may be played to the called party whenthe called party retrieves stored messages, as described below.

After identifying a name or some other identifier associated with thecalling party, directory server 160 may forward the name and/or otheridentifying information, such as information in association field 330,information in location field 340, and/or information in format field350, to VM system 140. VM system 140 may, concurrently with identifyingthe name associated with the calling party, prompt the calling party toleave a message.

VM system 140 may receive and store the voicemail message from thecalling party along with the name associated with the calling party (act450). For example, VM system 140 may play a pre-recorded message for thecalling party that prompts the calling party to leave a message. Thecalling party may then leave a voicemail message and VM system 140 maystore the voicemail message along with the name of the calling party.

Returning to act 430, if identification information, such as a telephonenumber, is not available for the calling party, VM system 140 may promptthe calling party for identification information (act 460). For example,if a calling party places a call to VM system 140 from a telephonehaving an unlisted number, no caller ID information may be available toVM system 140. VM system 140 may prompt the calling party to speakhis/her name and/or telephone number. VM system 140 may process thespoken response using a speech recognition application.

VM system 140 may determine if the identification information providedby the calling party is sufficient to identify the calling party (act470). If the identification information received from the calling partyis adequate to identify the calling party, process flow may go to act450 and store a message from the calling party. For example, if VMsystem 140 can determine the identity of the calling party by processingthe spoken response received in act 470, the calling party may beallowed to leave a message for the called party. In contrast, if theidentification information received from the calling party in act 470cannot be used to determine the identity of the calling party, a messagemay be provided to the calling party and the call may be terminated (act480). For example, VM system 140 may inform the calling party thathis/her identity has not been identified and that messages are notaccepted from unidentified calling parties. VM system 140 may inform thecalling party that the current calling session is being terminated, andVM system 140 may terminate the current calling session.

VM system 140 may notify the called party that a stored message is onthe system. For example, VM system 140 may transmit a message waitingindicator (MWI) to called device 120. The MWI may be visual, such as alight, text, or image, and/or may be audible. For example, a MWI,consistent with the invention, may include a “stutter tone” that isprovided to a user when called device 120 is taken off-hook. Thisstutter tone may alert the user to the presence of a voicemail message.Other implementations, such as an IP implementation, may display a MWIthat includes text and/or images on a computer display.

A party associated with called device 120 may retrieve stored voicemailmessages and/or may send broadcast replies, as described in detailbelow.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary process associated with retrievinginformation associated with stored voicemail messages and for retrievingthe stored voicemail messages in an implementation consistent with theprinciples of the invention. Processing may begin after a calling partyhas left a message for the called party associated with called device120.

Assume that the called party takes called device 120 off-hook toretrieve his/her messages from VM system 140. The called party,consistent with the invention, may access VM system 140 (act 510). Forexample, a party at called device 120 may enter a telephone numberassociated with VM system 140. Alternatively, a party at called device120 may enter one or more pre-designated characters to retrieve thevoicemail messages. Telephone-based implementations may provide theparty at called device 120 with information in a spoken format, whichcan include human generated speech and/or machine generated speech.Other implementations, such as IP-based implementations, may provideinformation in text and/or spoken formats.

VM system 140 may request an authorization code, such as a user nameand/or password, from a subscriber. The authorization code may be usedto identify the subscriber before letting the subscriber access thestored voicemail messages associated with calls to called device 120. Inan alternative implementation consistent with the invention, VM system140 may capture the telephone number and/or another identifier, such asan IP address, associated with called device 120 without requesting anauthorization code. For example, ANI techniques may be used to capturethe telephone number associated with the called device 120.Alternatively, VM system 140 may employ speech recognition software toprocess spoken responses to capture information associated with calleddevice 120, such as a user name and/or password.

Assume that the called party has established communications with VMsystem 140 and has been authorized to access VM system 140. Furtherassume that VM system 140 has stored a number of messages for the calledparty. For example, VM system 140 may have stored voicemail messages,email messages, and/or video messages for the called party.

VM system 140 may provide information about stored messages and/or theidentities of callers associated with those messages (act 520). Forexample, an introductory message, such as a greeting, a time/date stampfor the message, a length of the message and/or a priority for themessage may be provided to the party at called device 120. The greetingmay also identify the number and/or type of stored messages that arewaiting for the called party. For example, VM system 140 may provide amessage to the party at called device 120, such as, “The first storedmessage is a voicemail message from Jane Smith, the second storedmessage is video message from Robert Jones,” etc. In this manner, theparty at called device 120 may quickly determine who has left messagesand/or may determine what types of messages are stored on VM system 140.

In some implementations, VM system 140 may provide the party at calleddevice 120 with a visible display identifying the callers who leftmessages. For example, if called device 120 includes a telephone with adisplay area and/or a computer display device, VM system 140 maytransmit text information to called device 120. The transmitted textinformation and/or images may include information that lets the calledparty identify callers who left messages. VM system 140 may alsotransmit other types of information that are associated with the caller,such as visual information (e.g., images of the caller) or audibleinformation (e.g., a name and/or affiliation announcement).

VM system 140, consistent with the invention, may also provide optionsto allow the party at called device 120 to retrieve stored messagesand/or send broadcast messages in substantially any order (act 530). Forexample, VM system 140 may provide a voice menu that allows the calledparty to select one of the names of the identified callers who left amessage. Alternative implementations, such as web-based implementations,may provide for the use of a keyboard and display device and/or a speechrecognition interface when a called party is selecting the name of anidentified caller. For example, VM system 140 may provide the calledparty with a display that shows information associated with storedmessages.

Assume that the called party brings up a display showing storedmessages. Further assume that the display presents information aboutstored messages in a format similar to the arrangement of entries indatabase 300 of FIG. 3. The called party may select a stored messageusing information associated with the message. For example, if thecalled party is accessing stored messages on a PDA, the called party mayonly wish to answer messages associated with callers capable ofreceiving text-based broadcast messages. A format field may be includedin the information displayed to the called party to let the called partyknow that certain callers can receive text based broadcast messages. Instill other alternative implementations, VM system 140 may be configuredto translate broadcast messages from a first format to a second formatwhere the second format may be compatible with a calling party while thefirst format may not be compatible with the calling party.

VM system 140 may play the selected caller's message without playingeach message that was stored prior to the selected message (act 540). Asan example, suppose that VM system 140 provides the names Jane Smith,Robert Jones, Ed Wilson and George Taylor to the called party at calleddevice 120, identifying four parties who left voicemail messages. VMsystem 140 may provide a voice menu that instructs the called party tovoice any one of the identified names to retrieve the correspondingmessage. For example, VM system 140 may provide a message such as,“Please select a caller to hear the message from that caller.” Furtherassume that the called party at called device 120 wishes to retrieve themessage from Ed Wilson before hearing any other message. In this case,the called party may say the name Ed Wilson into called device 120.Voice recognition software at VM system 140 may recognize the calledparty's spoken input (i.e., Ed Wilson in this example) and may play EdWilson's voicemail message to the called party via called device 120. Inthis manner, the called party at called device 120 may retrieve storedmessages in substantially any order.

In alternative implementations, VM system 140 may prompt the calledparty at called device 120 to enter one or more inputs via a keypadand/or pointing device on, for example, called device 120 to select aparticular message. For example, VM system 140 may provide a textualprompt such as “To hear Jane Smith's message, press 1; to hear RobertJones' message, press 2, . . . ”, etc. In this manner, a called partymay retrieve stored messages in his/her desired order, regardless of theorder in which the messages were received. Letting the called partyretrieve messages out of order may save time with respect to retrievingthe stored messages since the called party can choose any message.

Implementations may also let the called party associate priorityinformation with a list of potential calling parties. For example, thecalled party may specify a priority for each broadcast party (e.g., acalling party) stored in database 300. VM system 140 may then present alist of names (or the actual stored voicemail messages) to the calledparty based on the priorities identified in the stored list. Forexample, suppose that the called party indicates that calls from his/herdesignated family members have the highest priority. If one of thesedesignated family members leaves a message for the called party, thename of that calling party would be presented first to the called partywhen the called party retrieves his/her voicemail message.

Priorities, such as those associated with stored messages, may be usedby a called party when sending broadcast messages to recipients. Forexample, assume that stored messages from a first calling party have afirst priority and stored messages from a second calling party have asecond priority. A called party may associate the first priority and thesecond priority to recipients of broadcast messages. For example, thecalled party may compose a broadcast message directed to the firstcalling party and the second calling party. The called party may sendthe broadcast message to the first calling via the first priority to andto the second calling party via the second priority. Implementationsconsistent with the principles of the invention let a called partyassociate substantially any number of priorities to incoming voicemailmessages and/or to outgoing broadcast messages.

Assume that Robert Jones left a message on VM system 140, the calledparty may access and play the stored message. The called party maycompose a broadcast message to respond to one or more stored voicemailmessages (act 550). For example, assume that the called party accesses astored message using a telephone. The called party may play the storedmessage by, for example, speaking “Play, Robert Jones.” After the storedmessage has been played, the called party may compose a broadcastmessage by speaking in response to a prompt and/or by depressing keys ona keypad. For example, the called party may record the contents of abroadcast message by speaking into a handset of called device 120. VMsystem 140 may store the broadcast message contents until the message issent. In some implementations, the message may be converted to a digitalformat prior to storing.

The broadcast message may operate as a reply to the stored message andmay include an answer to the stored message. A called party may thenselect recipients, such as broadcast parties, for the broadcast messageby making a keypad selection and/or by speaking a command into ahandset. For example, VM system 140 may present the called party with alist of broadcast party names that can be used to identify potentialrecipients of a broadcast message. When the called party selectsrecipients for the broadcast message, database 300 may associate anidentifier with the selected names. Database 300 may further associatethe selected identifiers with the broadcast message. Certain broadcastparties may be subscribers of VM system 140 while other broadcastparties may not be subscribers of VM system 140. For example, co-workersof a called party may be subscribers or users affiliated with VM system140 used by the called party at his/her place of employment. Incontrast, friends of the called party may not be subscribers of thevoicemail system used by the called party at his/her place of employment(e.g., VM system 140).

Assume that a stored voicemail message is an invitation to attend anevent. A broadcast message that is generated in response to the storedmessage can include an RSVP as well as including other information, suchas a request for directions, a question about suitable attire, and/or arequest for additional details about the event. The broadcast messagemay be sent to the calling party, such as Robert Jones, and to anotherparty that is associated with database 300. For example, a broadcastmessage may be sent to Robert and to Robert's wife, who may be helpingRobert with planning the event.

A broadcast message may be configured to match a protocol and/or formatused for the stored message. Assume that a calling party leaves a PSTNcompatible voicemail message on VM system 140. Further assume that thecalled party composes a broadcast message that is compatible with aPSTN. The broadcast message may be configured to provide a voiceresponse to a PSTN device associated with the calling party and anotherparty.

A broadcast message may also be configured to include multiple formats.For example, in response to a PSTN voicemail message, a called party maygenerate a broadcast message that is compatible with a PSTN and an IPnetwork. The called party may send the broadcast message to the callingparty in a PSTN format and to the other party in an IP networkcompatible format. Implementations consistent with the principles of theinvention are not limited to any particular type and/or format ofbroadcast message. In addition, broadcast messages may be sent to acalling party and any number of other parties using one or more formatsfor the broadcast message.

After generating the broadcast message, the called party may send thebroadcast message to the calling party and at least one other party (act560). For example, the called party may indicate, via, for example, avoice input, that the broadcast message should be sent to Robert Jonesand Jane Smith. VM system 140 accesses database 300 and may identify theappropriate identifier in field 310 and format in field 350 and forwardsthe broadcast message to both Robert Jones and Jane Smith.Alternatively, the called party may provide a voice input of “BookClub.” VM system 140, using speech recognition software, identifies thevoice input and accesses database 300 to identify parties having anassociation in field 330 of “Book Club.” In this example, VM system 140identifies first entry 302 and second entry 304 as having an associationfield 330 storing “Book Club.” VM system 140 identifies the recipientsof the broadcast message as Robert Jones and Jane Smith. Usingassociation field 330 allows the called party a simplified way in whichto identify recipients of broadcast messages and also saves time withrespect to identifying recipients. Recipients of broadcast messages maybe subscribers of VM system 140 along with the called party.Alternatively, recipients of broadcast messages may not be subscribersof VM system 140. Broadcast messages may also include features, such asreturn receipts, lifetime indicators that cause the broadcast message tobe deleted if it is not read within a determined time interval, and/orkeys to facilitate decryption of encrypted broadcast messages. Broadcastmessages may also include links to other information, such as auniversal resource locator (URL) associated with a networked device.

The called party may compose and/or send a broadcast message at any timeduring the review and/or playback of stored voicemail messages on VMsystem 140. For example, the called party may compose and send abroadcast message without listening to a stored message, may compose andsend a broadcast message after listening to a portion of a storedmessage, and/or may compose and send a broadcast message after listeningto an entire stored message. In addition, the called party may sendbroadcast messages to all broadcast parties associated with database 300and/or to a subset of the broadcast parties associated with database300.

For example, assume that a first coworker leaves a voicemail message forthe called party about a meeting. Further assume that in response to thevoicemail message, the called party may send a broadcast reply to thefirst coworker as well as to a second and/or third coworker even if thesecond and/or third coworker did not leave voicemail messages and/or maynot be calling parties. The called party may also send the broadcastmessage to a party that is not associated with database 300. Forexample, a called party may manually enter identifying information for arecipient of a broadcast message if that recipient does not haveidentifying information stored in database 300.

Broadcast messages may allow a called party to merge a first storedmessage with another stored message. Assume that a called party receivesa first voicemail message from a first calling party and a secondvoicemail message from a second calling party. Further assume that thefirst voicemail message includes only speech data while the secondvoicemail message includes speech data and alphanumeric data about a website, such as a URL. The called party may listen to a portion of thefirst voicemail message and/or a portion of the second voicemailmessage. The called party may want to send a first broadcast message tothe first calling party and to another party. The broadcast message maycontain a reply to the first voicemail message as well as the URL thatwas received via the second voicemail message. The called party mayinclude the URL in the broadcast message by copying the URL from thesecond voicemail message to the first broadcast message. The firstbroadcast message may be sent to the first calling party and to anotherparty.

The processing described above assumes that the called party retrieveshis/her messages via the user device associated with the called number(i.e., called device 120 in the example above). In alternativeimplementations, the called party may retrieve his/her messages via anyuser device that can access VM system 140. For example, the called partymay retrieve messages left for him/her at his/her home telephone numberusing a wireless telephone or by using a telephone device at anotherlocation, such as his/her office.

The processing described above was directed to interactions between aPSTN device and VM system 140. Implementations consistent with theprinciples of the invention may also be web-based. In a web-basedimplementation, the party at called device 120 may enter an Internetaddress associated with VM system 140. For example, a called party usinga web-based implementation may press one or more characters and/orfunction keys associated with a keyboard on called device 120 toretrieve the list of callers who have left messages. The retrieved listmay be presented to the called party via a visual display that includesinformation identifying the callers who left messages.

Web-based implementations may operate with software modules to providethe called party with capabilities needed to access stored messages,obtain information about stored messages, select a stored message,compose a broadcast message and/or send a broadcast message. Forexample, a user interface may operate in conjunction with an informationcomponent that causes a pop up window to appear on a monitor associatedwith called device 120. The pop up window may provide information aboutstored messages, such as names of callers, identifiers associated withcallers, the length of stored messages associated with respectivecallers and/or formats associated with stored messages. The displayedinformation may have been determined using an identity component toidentify one or more calling parties associated with stored messages. Aselection component may let the called party select a message using, forexample, an input device without having to listen to the stored message.A composition component may let the called party compose a broadcastmessage using, for example, a keyboard and/or speech recognitionsoftware. A distribution component may operate to send the broadcastmessage to substantially any number of destinations. Destinations mayinclude calling parties and non-calling parties. Web-basedimplementations may adapt broadcast messages to be compatible withvarious types of destinations, such as PSTN compatible destinations, IPcompatible destinations and/or destinations having still othercompatibilities.

The embodiments described above assume that directory server 160 storesa name corresponding to the identified telephone number. If, however,directory server 160 does not store a name corresponding to theidentified telephone number (e.g., the telephone number is unlisted), VMsystem 140 may provide the telephone number from which the calloriginated to the called party, as opposed to a name. The called partymay compose and send a broadcast message to the identified telephonenumber even if the called party does not know the true identity of thecaller.

EXAMPLE

FIGS. 6A-L illustrate exemplary aspects of a user's interaction with VMsystem 140 consistent with the principles of the invention. FIGS. 6A-Lare directed to interactions between a called party and an IP-basedtelephone implementation that includes a display device to facilitatecalled party interactions with VM system 140. Interactions between acalled party and a PSTN-based telephone are also presented inconjunction with the IP-based telephone implementation of FIGS. 6A-L.

A calling party may leave a message for a called party as described inconnection with FIG. 4. The called party may pick up a handsetassociated with a telephone having a display device associatedtherewith.

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary display 600 that can be used withimplementations of a telephone device to facilitate called partyinteractions with VM system 140. Display 600 may present information tothe called party about stored messages. For example, the called partymay receive an audible indication via a handset and/or a visualindication via display 600 that one or more stored voicemail messagesare available. Display 600 may include a message status portion 602 andan instruction portion 604. Message status portion 602 may indicate thenumber and/or type of messages waiting. For example, message statusportion 602 may indicate that three messages are waiting for the calledparty. Instruction portion 604 may instruct the called party regardingthe retrieval of information associated with the stored messages. Forexample, instruction portion 604 may instruct the called party todepress “*” to retrieve information about stored messages. A PSTN-basedimplementation may provide the called party with a recorded message thatsays “Three messages are waiting. Press the star key to access thestored messages.” The called party may depress the “*” key andinformation about broadcast parties and/or stored messages may bepresented to the called party.

FIG. 6B illustrates database 610 that may include information aboutstored messages and broadcast parties. Broadcast parties may be callingparties and/or non-calling parties. For example, database 610 mayinclude an ID field 612 to store identifiers associated with broadcastparties stored in database 610, a name field 614 to store namesassociated with parties stored in database 610, an association field 616to store information about associations that can be assigned to partiesidentified in database 610, a location field 618 that can be used toassociate geographic information with parties identified in database610, and a format field 620 that can be used to associate formatinformation with parties identified in database 610. For example, abroadcast party that is a calling party may be Robert Jones, and RobertJones may be associated with a stored message in database 610.

In FIG. 6B, Robert Jones is associated with a first stored message asnoted by the number “1” on the left side of database 610, Jane Smith isassociated with a second stored message, and Bill Lee is associated witha third stored message. In contrast, Sam Slade may be a broadcast partythat is not associated with a stored message, as noted by the absence ofa number along the left side of database 610 next to Sam Slade's phonenumber.

The called party may receive an audible instruction via the handsetand/or a visual instruction via display 600 regarding selection of astored message for playback. For example, in a PSTN-based or an IP-basedtelephone, a prompt may play through a handset that states “Press thenumber corresponding to a stored message to hear that message.” Thecalled party may depress “1” to cause VM system 140 to access the storedmessage from Robert Jones.

FIG. 6C illustrates an exemplary display that may result when the calledparty depresses a key to play a stored message. For example, informationassociated with a stored message from Robert Jones may be provided ondisplay 600 and may include ID field 612, name field 614, associationfield 616, location field 618, and format field 620 that are associatedwith Robert Jones. In addition, display 600 may display a message lengthindicator 624, and an instruction field 626. For example, as shown inFIG. 6C, instruction field 626 may instruct the called party to press“1” to play the stored message, “2” to rewind the message, “3” to deletethe message, and “#” to compose a broadcast message.

A selected message may play through the telephone handset, a speakerassociated with the telephone, and/or may be displayed on display 600 incooperation with a speech-to-text application. The called party maydepress a button on a keypad, or speak an instruction, to access furtherfeatures of VM system 140. For example, the called party may depress “#”while the message is playing to compose a broadcast message. With aPSTN-based telephone, VM system 140 may play “The stored message is fromRobert Jones and was received from 555-123-4567. Robert is a member ofthe book club group, Robert is associated with a location of FairfaxVa., and Robert is associated with a PSTN format. Depress ‘1’ to playthe stored message, depress ‘2’ to rewind the stored message, depress‘3’ to delete the stored message, or depress ‘#’ to compose a broadcastmessage.”

The called party may depress “#” to compose a broadcast message.Depressing “#” may cause a broadcast message display to be provided. Thebroadcast message display may provide the called party with informationuseful to compose a broadcast message. The called party may compose abroadcast message by entering information via a keypad or keyboard.Alternatively, the called party may compose a broadcast message byspeaking into a handset or microphone. In some implementations, thespoken input may be recorded or converted to text via a speech-to-textapplication operating in conjunction with VM system 140.

FIG. 6D illustrates an exemplary display 600 that can provide the calledparty with information about a broadcast message. Display 600 mayinclude a destination portion 630, a message body portion 632 and anoptions portion 634. Destination portion 630 may include informationidentifying the party that will receive the broadcast message. Forexample, the name and telephone number of Robert Jones may be displayedin destination portion 630. Message body portion 632 may includeinformation associated with the body of the broadcast message. Forexample, text may be displayed in message body portion 632 as the calledparty composes a broadcast message. Options portion 634 may includeinformation that lets the called party make selections regarding otheractions that may be performed in conjunction with the composed broadcastmessage. For example, options portion 634 may let the called partyspecify another recipient for the broadcast message. A recipientspecified via options portion 634 may be in addition to the recipientidentified in destination portion 630. The recipient specified inoptions portion 634 may be another calling party, such as Jane Smith orBill Lee, or may be a non-calling party, such as Sam Slade (FIG. 6B).

With a PSTN-based telephone, VM system 140 may provide voice prompts tothe called party via a handset. For example, in conjunction with FIG.6D, the called party may hear “Robert Jones is the recipient of thebroadcast message and his telephone number is 555-123-4567. The recordedbroadcast message is ‘Bob, I can attend the picnic. Can someone provideme with directions? Thanks.’ Press 0 to hear a list of other partiesthat can be added as broadcast message recipients.” The called party maydepress “0” to select options portion 634 (FIG. 6D). The called partymay be provided with information about other potential recipients of thebroadcast message.

FIG. 6E illustrates information associated with a database 638 that canbe provided to a called party in response to selecting options portion634 (FIG. 6D). Database 638 may include a portion of the contents ofdatabase 610. For example, database 638 may include informationassociated with broadcast parties that have not been associated with thecomposed broadcast message.

The called party may select an entry from database 638 by depressing akeypad button corresponding to a number along the left side of database638. For example, the called party may read display 600 and may selectJane Smith by depressing “2”, Bill Lee by depressing “3” and/or SamSlade by depressing “4.” With a PSTN-based telephone, the called partymay be provided with a voice prompt. For example, the called party mayhear “Press ‘2’ to select Jane Smith as a recipient, press ‘3’ to selectBill Lee as a recipient, or press ‘4’ to select Sam Slade as arecipient.” The called party may depress “2” to select Jane Smith inresponse to the display of FIG. 6E and/or a voice prompt associatedtherewith.

FIG. 6F illustrates exemplary fields that may be displayed in responseto the called party's actions associated with FIG. 6E. For example, afirst information field 642 may indicate that Jane Smith was added as asecond recipient for the broadcast message. A first instruction field644 may provide the called party with instructions for sending thebroadcast message to Robert Jones and Jane Smith and/or for editing thebroadcast message. For example, depressing ‘*’ on a keypad may send thebroadcast message, while depressing “#” on a keypad may cause an editingwindow to be displayed on display 600.

With a PSTN-based telephone, the called party may be provided with voiceprompts. For example, the called party may hear “The broadcast messagewill be sent to Robert Jones and Jane Smith. Press ‘*’ to send thebroadcast message now, press ‘#’ to edit the broadcast message, or press‘9’ to add an additional broadcast message recipient.”

The called party may depress “*” on a keypad to send the broadcastmessage to Robert Jones and Jane Smith. Depressing “*” in connectionwith FIG. 6F may cause additional information to be displayed to thecalled party.

FIG. 6G illustrates an exemplary display field 648 that may be providedto the called party in response to depressing “*” in connection withFIG. 6F. For example, display field 648 may inform the called party thatthe broadcast message was sent to Robert Jones and Jane Smith and thatthe called party did not request delivery confirmation. With aPSTN-based telephone, the called party may be provided with an audiblemessage. For example, VM system 140 may play “The broadcast message hasbeen sent to Robert Jones and Jane Smith. You did not request a deliveryconfirmation for this broadcast message.”

Implementations consistent with the principles of the invention may letthe called party perform additional actions, such as sending broadcastmessages to groups and/or subsets of groups. For example, when thecalled party depressed “0” in connection with FIG. 6D, the called partywas able to access database 638. In conjunction with information indatabase 638, the called party may have been presented with a displaythat included information about groups, such as a book club group.

FIG. 6H illustrates an exemplary display 600 that may be provided to thecalled party to inform the called party about available groups ofbroadcast message recipients. Group field 650 may provide the calledparty with instructions for sending a broadcast message to a group ofrecipients. With a PSTN-based telephone, the called party may beprovided with audible instructions. For example, VM system 140 may play“Press ‘55’ to send a broadcast message to a group.” The called partymay depress “55” on a keypad. In response to “55”, the called party maybe provided with information about groups that are stored in VM system140.

FIG. 6I illustrates an exemplary display that may be provided to thecalled party in response to depressing “55” in connection with FIG. 6H,above. For example, group database 654 may be provided to the calledparty via display 600. Group database 654 may include a portion of thecontents of database 610. For example, group database 654 may identifygroups and broadcast parties included within those groups.

Entries in group database 654 may be arranged by, for example,organizations, such as a book club, an office, and/or a family. Eachorganization may have one or more names associated therewith. Forexample, the book club may have Robert Jones, Jane Smith and Jack Blackassociated therewith. Entries associated with group database 654 may beselected by, for example, depressing a keypad digit that corresponds toa number along the left side of group database 654. For example, thecalled party may select the book club group by depressing “1” on akeypad. With a PSTN-based telephone, VM system 140 may play “Press ‘1’to select the book club group, press ‘2’ to select the office group, orpress ‘3’ to select the family group.” Depressing “1” may cause a bookclub listing to be displayed on display 600.

FIG. 6J illustrates an exemplary book club listing 658 that may includeinformation about members of the book club. For example, book clublisting 658 may include the names of members associated with the bookclub. In addition, book club listing 658 may include a status field thatlets the called party select some or all of the names within the bookclub as recipients of a broadcast message. For example, book clublisting 658 may identify Robert Jones and Jane Smith as being selectedto receive a broadcast message and Jack Black as not being selected toreceive the broadcast message. If the called party wants to change thestatus of Jack Black to “selected,” the called party may depress akeypad button that corresponds to a number associated with Jack Black'sentry, here the number “3.”

With a PSTN-based telephone, the called party may be provided withaudible information about book club listing 658. For example, VM system140 may play “Robert Jones and Jane Smith are selected to receive abroadcast message and Jack Black is not selected to receive thebroadcast message. Press ‘3’ to select Jack Black.” The called party maydepress “3” to access information that can be used to change the statusassociated with Jack Black in book club listing 658. For example,depressing “3” may toggle Jack Black's status from “not selected” to“selected.”

FIG. 6K illustrates an exemplary display 600 that may be provided to thecalled party in response to depressing “3” in conjunction with book clubgroup listing 658. The display associated with FIG. 6K may also includean instruction field 662 to instruct the called party with respect tosending the broadcast message to the book club group. For example,depressing “#” may send the broadcast message to Robert Jones, JaneSmith and Jack Black. In response to depressing “#”, the called partymay receive a confirmation 666 (FIG. 6L) that the broadcast message wassuccessfully sent to the selected members of the book club group, namelyRobert Jones, Jane Smith and Jack Black.

With a PSTN-based telephone, the called party may be provided withaudible information. For example, VM system 140 may play “Jack Black hasbeen selected. Press ‘#’ to send the broadcast message to Robert Jones,Jane Smith, and Jack Black.” If “#” is depressed by the called party, VMsystem 140 may broadcast the message to the selected parties and play“The broadcast message has been sent to Robert Jones, Jane Smith, andJack Black.”

In one implementation, a PSTN based telephone may be used to retrievestored messages, select broadcast reply recipients, compose broadcastreplies and send broadcast replies to one or more calling parties. Forexample, a number of calling parties may leave messages for a subscriberof VM system 140. The subscriber may receive a MWI via a handset tonotify the subscriber that stored messages are available on VM system140. The subscriber may access VM system 140 by calling a telephonenumber associated with VM system 140.

The subscriber may receive a prompt from VM system 140 after providing,for example, authentication information, such as a password. The promptmay tell the subscriber that stored messages are available. For example,VM system 140 may play “You have four stored messages. Press ‘1’ to hearstored messages in the order in which they were received. To associate astored message with a broadcast reply, depress ‘2’ while the respectivemessage is playing. To associate all stored messages with a broadcastreply, depress ‘3’ at any time”.

The subscriber may depress “1” to hear messages in the order in whichthey were received. For example, the subscriber may hear “Message one isfrom Jane Smith”, and then the message from Jane Smith may be played forthe subscriber. The subscriber may depress “2” during the playback ofthe message from Jane Smith to associate Jane Smith as a broadcast replyrecipient. The subscriber may depress “2” during the playback of asecond message to associate, for example, Jack Black as a secondbroadcast reply recipient. The subscriber may listen to the third andfourth messages and may opt not to select the respective calling partiesas broadcast reply recipients by not depressing any keys during theplayback of those messages.

The subscriber may be prompted to create a broadcast reply or to selecta stored broadcast reply after listening to the stored messages. Forexample, after the fourth message has finished playing, the subscribermay hear “Please begin speaking after the tone to generate a broadcastreply and depress the ‘#’ key when finished to store the broadcastreply. To re-record your broadcast reply depress ‘*’ and then depress‘#’ when you are finished speaking. Depress ‘4’ to hear a listing ofstored broadcast replies”. The subscriber may hear the tone and mayspeak “Hi this is Tom and I am on vacation until Thursday. I will returnyour call when I return”. The subscriber may depress “#” when finishedspeaking to store the broadcast reply on VM system 140.

After the broadcast reply is stored on VM system 140, the subscriber mayreceive a prompt that plays “Depress ‘5’ to send your broadcast reply toJane Smith and Jack Black”. The subscriber may depress “5” to send thebroadcast reply to Jane Smith and Jack Black. As discussed above,implementations consistent with the principles of the invention mayallow a subscriber to send a broadcast reply to substantially any numberof recipients using a single action, such as by depressing a singlebutton on a keypad of a PSTN telephone device.

CONCLUSION

Implementations consistent with the invention provide a voicemailservice that provides identifiers associated with stored voice messages.This allows a subscriber to quickly identify the parties who have leftmessages. In addition, implementations consistent with the inventionallow the subscriber to retrieve the messages in his/her preferred orderregardless of the order in which the messages were received.Furthermore, implementations consistent with the principles of theinvention may allow the subscriber to send broadcast messages to anumber of recipients.

The foregoing description of exemplary implementations of the inventionprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed.Modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. Forexample, calling parties may be prompted to speak their names, asdescribed above, instead of, or in addition to, using directory server160 to identify a name associated with a calling party. The spoken namemay then be stored with the stored voicemail message.

In addition, while series of acts have been described with respect toFIGS. 4 and 5, the order of the acts may be varied in otherimplementations consistent with the invention. Further, acts beingdescribed as being performed by one device above may be performed byother devices in implementations consistent with the invention.Moreover, non-dependent acts may be implemented in parallel.

It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that aspects ofthe invention, as described above, may be implemented in many differentforms of software, firmware, and hardware in the implementationsillustrated in the figures. The actual software code or specializedcontrol hardware used to implement aspects consistent with theprinciples of the invention is not limiting of the invention. Thus, theoperation and behavior of the aspects of the invention were describedwithout reference to the specific software code, it being understoodthat one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to design softwareand control hardware to implement the aspects based on the descriptionherein.

Further, certain portions of the invention may be implemented as “logic”that performs one or more functions. This logic may include hardware,such as an application specific integrated circuit or a fieldprogrammable gate array, software, or a combination of hardware andsoftware.

No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the presentapplication should be construed as critical or essential to theinvention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, thearticle “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only oneitem is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Further,the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on”unless explicitly stated otherwise.

1. A method comprising: storing a message associated with a subscriberof a voicemail system; providing information about the stored message tothe subscriber; receiving a message from the subscriber in response tothe stored message; receiving an input from the subscriber, the inputrepresenting a plurality of parties; and sending the message to theplurality of parties as a broadcast message.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the sending further comprises: sending the message to anon-subscriber of the voicemail system.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the sending further comprises: sending the message to anon-calling party.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending furthercomprises: sending the message to a first one of the plurality ofparties in a first format and to a second one of the plurality ofparties in a second format.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thesending further comprises: sending the message in the first format thatis compatible with one of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aninstant messaging (IM) network, an Internet protocol (IP) network, or asession initiation protocol (SIP) network.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the sending further comprises: sending the broadcast message toa first one of the plurality of parties with a first priority and to asecond one of the plurality of parties with a second priority.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: storing information identifying agroup that is associated with the subscriber, where the group includesthe plurality of parties.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:storing information identifying a group that is associated with thesubscriber, where the plurality of parties make up a subset of thegroup.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing informationthat identifies one or more groups that can be used to identifyrecipients of the broadcast message and where the input represents afirst group.
 10. A messaging device, comprising: a memory configured to:store a first message from a first caller and intended for a calledparty, and store information identifying a group that includes aplurality of broadcast parties that include the first caller; and aprocessor configured to: receive a reply message from the called party,and broadcast the reply message to at least a subset of the group. 11.The messaging device of claim 10, wherein the reply is sent in responseto at least one action performed by the called party.
 12. The messagingdevice of claim 10, wherein the reply is broadcast to the entire group.13. The messaging device of claim 10, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: receive an input from the called party, the inputidentifying the group, identify telephone numbers associated with eachmember of the group, and forward the reply message to the identifiedtelephone numbers.
 14. The messaging device of claim 10, wherein thereply message is sent to a first one of the subset in a first format andto a second one of the subset in a second format.
 15. The messagingdevice of claim 10, wherein the memory is further configured to store asecond message from a second caller and intended for the called party,and wherein the reply message includes information from the first storedmessage and the second stored message.
 16. The messaging device of claim10, wherein the reply message is broadcast in a format that iscompatible with one of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aninstant messaging (IM) network, an Internet protocol (IP) network, or asession initiation protocol (SIP) network.
 17. A method, comprising:notifying a called party about a plurality of stored messages receivedfrom a plurality of calling parties; making information about at leastone of the plurality of messages available to the called party inresponse to a first input; recording a new broadcast message orretrieving a stored broadcast message on behalf of the called party inresponse to a second input; and sending the new broadcast message or theretrieved broadcast message to at least a subset of the plurality ofcalling parties on behalf of the called party based on a third input.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the making further comprises:providing the called party with information about the identity of atleast one calling party or with the content of at least one of theplurality of stored messages.
 19. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: playing one of the plurality of stored messages for thecalled party; and receiving the second input in response to the playedmessage.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the sending comprises:sending the new broadcast message or the retrieved broadcast message tothe one of the plurality of calling parties associated with the playedmessage and to another one of the plurality of calling parties.
 21. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the sending comprises: sending the newbroadcast message or the retrieved broadcast message to a first one ofthe plurality of calling parties in a first format and to a second oneof the plurality of calling parties in a second format.
 22. The methodof claim 17, further comprising: storing information identifying aplurality of groups, where the plurality of groups include identities ofthe plurality of calling parties.
 23. The method of claim 22, whereinthe sending comprises: sending the new broadcast message or theretrieved broadcast message to calling parties represented by one of theplurality of groups.
 24. The method of claim 17, wherein the firstinput, the second input and the third input are associated with atelephone keypad or speech received from the called party.
 25. Themethod of claim 17 wherein the sending further comprises: sending thenew broadcast message or the retrieved broadcast message in a formatcompatible with one of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aninstant messaging (IM) network, an Internet protocol (IP) network, or asession initiation protocol (SIP) network.